In 2012, Germany’s favorite car has again been the Volkswagen Golf. The VW Passat and Polo were again second and third best-selling car models in Germany in 2012. The Mercedes C Class moved ahead of the Opel Astra to take fourth place.

Top 30 Best-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2012

The top 30 most popular car models in Germany in 2012 were according to new passenger vehicle registration data released by the KBA:

2012

2011

Car Model

2012 Sales

% + / –

1

1

VW GOLF, JETTA

240,702

-6.7

2

2

VW PASSAT

89,333

-13.7

3

3

VW POLO

76,507

-15.7

4

5

MERCEDES C-Class

69,052

-13.5

5

4

OPEL ASTRA

66,981

-22.6

6

7

BMW 3 Series

62,506

0.4

7

28

MERCEDES B-Class

59,420

97.7

8

14

BMW 1ER

59,241

12

9

10

AUDI A4, S4, RS4

57,633

-2.4

10

6

OPEL CORSA

55,747

-20.5

11

19

VW TIGUAN

55,615

21.8

12

11

VW TOURAN

53,025

-4.3

13

18

AUDI A6, S6, RS6, A7

52,710

14.4

14

12

FORD FIESTA

50,874

-5.7

15

9

BMW 5 Series

48,107

-19.5

16

8

FORD FOCUS

47,936

-21.6

17

17

SKODA OCTAVIA

46,318

-0.5

18

13

AUDI A3, S3, RS3

45,999

-14.5

19

New

VW UP

42,842

New

20

16

SKODA FABIA

40,740

-14.4

21

15

MERCEDES E-Class

37,303

-25.3

22

22

BMW MINI

36,302

-10

23

24

VW TRANSPORTER, CARAVELLE

33,872

0.9

24

23

VW CADDY

32,331

-13.5

25

20

MERCEDES A-Class

31,973

-26.6

26

–

OPEL ZAFIRA

29,956

52.3

27

–

SEAT IBIZA, CORDOBA

29,652

5.2

28

30

AUDI A1, S1

29,446

1.8

29

27

NISSAN QASHQAI

28,982

-11.2

30

26

HYUNDAI I 30

28,789

-12

Changes in the List of Top-Selling Car Models in Germany in 2012

The top three most popular cars in Germany in 2012 remained unchanged from a year ago. However, all three saw a drop in sales larger than the market average. The VW Golf was replaced by a new model in November 2012, which may help sales in 2013. Although Golf sales were down, the Golf still sold as many as the next three car models put together.

Opel models generally suffer huge declines in sales, with Astra and Corsa sales a fifth down on last year. The Astra slipped one place behind the Mercedes C Class while the Corsa dropped from sixth to tenth.

Of the top selling cars in Germany in 2012, the Mercedes B Class saw the best growth selling almost double as many cars as a year ago. The B Class improved from 28th to seventh. In contrast the smaller A Class slipped from 20th to 25th, in part due to a well-published model change. In a rather odd market in December, the A Class was actually the sixth most popular model of the month.

The BMW 3 and 1 Series saw an increase in sales numbers as well as relative positions in Germany in 2012. However, the larger 5 Series, as the Mercedes E Class, saw sales slipping while the new Audi A6 was well received.

The VW Tiguan improved from 19th to eleventh as the most popular SUV in Germany in 2012. The Nissan Qashqai was the most popular non-VW owned imported car in Germany. Several other SUVs by BMW, Audi, and Mercedes just missed out on the top 30 listing to testify to the increased popularity of SUVs in Germany despite the consumption penalties.

The Skoda Octavia replaced the Skoda Fabia as Germany’s most popular imported car. A model change early in 2013 should give the Octavia a further boost.

The Opel Zafira returned to the top 30 list in Germany with a strong improvement in sales but still far off the numbers achieved by the aging VW Touran. The VW-owned Seat Ibiza also returned to the list with strong sales due to a model change.